Maybe I'm not the blind one
by Indompte
Summary: Fate deals a harsh hand to some in life, as Sarano, a cat demon, finds out. But when she meets up with the Inuyasha gang, will she think somewhat better of her life?
1. Chapter 1

The morning was crisp, light and delicate to the senses as a cat demon high upon a rise drew in the air. It was the time of morning when all was still, it seemed that the air itself had gained mass, and the neko girl couldn't help but let a flicker of a smile pass her lips. _Yes_, she thought, _a great day to begin_. She made a quick run to the base of the hill she stood on and sniffed the air once more, letting it rub slowly across her scent glands as she guessed what direction the morning wind would shift to. She escaped into the nearby forest and cast a doubted glance behind her, unsure whether to leave her home behind like she had been planning to do for months. _Just keep going,_ she encouraged herself as she turned away reluctantly. _No one's here to stop you_. All except the other cat demon who had been following her since she had left earlier that night. "Sarano, where do you think you're heading off to?" The frightened neko gave a hiss of alarm that soon faded into annoyance as she recognized the soft yet stern voice of her sister. "What does it look like," she growled as she shouldered past her older sibling. "I have to find him, I won't rest until I do." A spark of uneasiness flared up in her sister, that much was easily identifiable by her younger sister, and Sarano let out another annoyed hiss. "You can't possibly hope to find him," she whispered apprehensively as she stared ruefully at her. "And why not? Do you doubt me?"

The younger neko fingered her sword at her side and shifted into a battle pose, unafraid to fight one that shared her blood. "Mother and father would worry for you, and brother wouldn't appreciate it." Sarano's hiss of annoyance fell into a snarl of fury as her sister denied her the chance to fight. "What did you know about our brother?" she demanded as she took a threatening step forward but the other neko did not flinch.

"Everything would have been perfectly fine if he hadn't sacrificed himself to save me. I owe it to him to find…"

She cut off, afraid to say the name of the demon that had taken her world away from her. "You owe nothing to him but to stay here with us. Brother's death will have been in vain if you go out on this suicide mission, do you want that?" Sarano began a battle deep within herself, unprepared to back down to her sister but unwilling to leave the memory of her departed brother behind. "And what would you have me do, Rikara?" she stood before her elder, her hand falling from her sword handle, challenging the neko to say something to defy her. "I would have you stay here and mourn properly for him, not go on a fight that you cannot win."

"And why can't I? Are you afraid that I won't ever return?" Rika, the elder sister to the stubborn little neko before her, was, for the first time in her life, at a loss for words. "Then let me take your place. I would do the job just as efficiently, and you'll be able to stay here with mother and father while they grieve."

"I would have no one but myself go slay this demon." Sarano spat as she whirled away and began to stalk through the forest. "Tell mother and father that I'll be back before summer." And those were the last words the sisters would exchange for nearly fifty long years.

"I never expected it to be this cold," the girl murmured to herself as she huddled closer to the crackling fire to warm her icy hands. Her long cream colored hair that had once been beautiful and shiny was now a dull memory of its once proud appearance, now windswept and not cared for, but she hardly had the time, seeing as she had been traveling for most of the day and well into the night for a few good years now.

The girl yawned cavernously and relaxed on the damp ground, ignoring the instant cold that seeped into her bones. Back in her home, the long left village, some would describe her as arrogant all the time, snappish when things didn't go her way, as brilliant as the morning sun and respectfully charming if she really tried. But ever since the death of her brother she had been abnormally quiet, sinking into subdued silence and very rarely speaking to anyone. Some say she blamed herself for his tragic death but those who knew her knew all too well that the girl had secretly harbored a passion to hunt out the one who had been responsible for killing him. And they had feared that she would go in search of him, which eventually she had, but none had expected that it would be so soon after the accident. Others would say that her eyes, that were lighter blue than normal, would reflect the scene of her brother's last stand, if you looked at them long enough.

But Sarano had never given anyone such a chance, for she had departed from her village only a few weeks afterward. She now traveled by herself, only resting to gather information about a demon that many people knew all too well. Only just this morning she had stopped in a human village to request information about him and they had been surprisingly helpful with his whereabouts. He was apparently heading east from the river Sarano was currently camped at, and the cat demon couldn't wait to continue her journey the next morning. But her restless mind finally fell into the release of sleep, but not before a painful memory was resurrected in her thoughts; the screaming of villagers, the heat of raging fires all around her, and the powerful presence of her brother standing over her to defend her from Naraku.


	2. Chapter 2

**Second chapter, hope you enjoy. For the record, I do not own Inuyasha or any of the Inuyasha characters. **

**Thanks again!**

* * *

The morning, as they always seemed to be, was chilling to the core and the small neko that passed the river was cautiously sliding about on its frozen surface. She considered getting down on all fours just like a cat but she thought better of it, wondering how she could possibly regain her composure if someone saw her in a such a ridiculous stance. So with a few more shuffling steps she reached the other end, relieved to find the safety of solid ground beneath her feet. She rushed away into the forest and scented the air, parting her jaws to draw in the fresh, crisp tasting scents of the trees all around her. She weaved through thick bramble bushes and tangles of bracken patches until a clearing wound away under her feet and splayed out to the far side of the forest. She unsheathed her sword and swung it across her shoulders as the scent of another demon creased the air, somewhere near, too. Then her ears pricked forward and she stopped abruptly, leaning forward as she had prepared to take another step but the scent had began to close in on her and the slightest tingle ran up her arm and into her shoulders. She sniffed warily, turning her head from side to side to try to pinpoint the demon that was professionally avoiding her. But finally it came, the earsplitting roar that shook the ground and caused the cat demon to jump away in fright but she quickly turned and felt the impact of skin with her blade. She smirked triumphantly and split the demon from his gut to his nose, ruthless to those who opposed her.

The demon was unmistakably an ogre, its awful stench making Sarano's nose wrinkle in disgust as she padded forward to it. Luckily she didn't have to breathe in the putrid air for long, the sparkling feeling of a jewel shard was enough to guide her to the small fragment of the jewel, and she picked it up, feeling just as accomplished as she always did when days went this good.

"Well hello, there, how are you?" the cat demon asked as she busied herself with cleaning her sword instead of turning to the people who were approaching her. She had scented them long before they had ever exited the forest and the loud sound of their feet crushing every bramble in the vicinity was enough to rouse even the dumbest demon. "We'd be a lot better if you'd hand over that jewel shard." The voice was gruff, undeniably male, and sounded like he was angry with her, but she was unaware of how she might have upset him. "I'm afraid I can't do that. But I'd be more than happy to give you a consolation prize. I'm not exactly sure what I have to offer but I might be able to find something lovely for you in this wonderful metropolis."

A growl echoed out from his throat but still the cat demon refused to turn around to face him, or his five companions, three of which carried the scent of humans, two were demons and the one speaking had the scent of both. _How interesting_, Sarano thought as she finally turned and blinked in confusion as she realized he was a half demon. "I never expected to meet a hanyou," she said more to herself then her company then spoke louder so they could hear. "Most half demons never live past adolescence, for most are killed because of their mixed blood, but you must be truly exceptional if you lived this long." The hanyou stiffened at her unexpected praise and Sarano hid a smile as he was caught off guard. "Yeah, well, enough of that, give the jewel shard to us." Uncertainty began to well up in the strangers but Sarano held her guard and pointed to a girl that carried the strangest scent she had ever smelled. "You there, girl, speak for your half demon friend. Why does he seek the jewel shard that I possess? He seems too haughty to answer my questions correctly." She explained when the girl's confusion radiated off of her. "We want to gather all the sacred jewel shards so that we can avenge ourselves and others who were killed by this demon." The cat demon had expected the answer and nodded slowly, then the girl began to speak though Sarano had not asked her to. "I'm Kagome, and this is Sango, Miroku, Inuyasha, Kirara and Shippo." She pointed to herself first, the other girl, one of the men then the half demon before moving on to the cat demon and the fox demon. "Pleasure to meet you. I am Sarano, a cat demon, if you haven't already discovered it."

"Are you traveling to find the sacred jewel shards too?" Now the other man spoke, his voice was lower than the half demons and his aura radiated that of someone spiritual, Sarano guessed him to be a monk or priest of some kind. "In a way, I am. But I don't plan to use the Shikon jewel for my own gain, but I do, however, plan to avenge my brother and kill the very same demon you seek. I know who you speak of, this demon. Is his name not Naraku?" A stunned silence befell the people in front of her but finally the other girl- Sango- spoke up. "Yes, it is. But you told us that you plan to avenge your brother. You could travel with us, if you'd like, that way you wouldn't have to give up the jewel shard." Sarano's ears perked at the thought and at last she nodded thoughtfully though she could tell the half demon wasn't happy about it. "Yes, I'd like that. That is, if you don't mind."

"Of course we mind!" The hanyou snapped as he stepped forward to her then stepped back as if he had been bitten. "What," her voice was a dangerous whisper as she turned to him. "Do I scare you?" But the hanyou refused to look at her and instead fixed his gaze on the ground and mumbled something about how nice it would be for another demon to accompany them, though the cat demon could tell it was sarcastic and forced. "Great, do you want to come with us right away or do you have someone you need to tell goodbye to?" The girl, a priestess, asked but Sarano shook her head. "No, I left my home long ago." Something in her voice was deeply regretful but she let the young girl lead her away as she fell into step beside her and the monk. _So fate has decreed I travel with these people,_ she thought as she squared her shoulders and yawned again. _So be it_.

* * *

It wasn't often the cat demon made new friends, in fact, she had hardly met anyone in her years of travel but already in two days she had learned almost everything there was to know about her companions, as if she had known them all her life. She had discovered that the half demon, though stubborn and a bit on the snappish side, was really quite caring and protective to those he was close with, though Sarano found this out from Kagome while Inuyasha insisted that he had no such traits. Sango, the demon slayer, was tracking Naraku for the same reason Sarano was; to avenge her brother, but Sango would be reunited with her brother when the war was over, while Sarano would have nothing but bitter memories. Shippo the fox demon had a sad tale for someone so young; his father killed then made into a pelt, humiliating to both demons. Miroku had something called the Wind Tunnel in his right palm that could suck up anything and everything in sight, and his other hand was almost as dangerous as the other, Sango had explained, not to stray too close to the monk for he could easily be tempted, though Sarano was unsure what that meant. And last of all, Inuyasha, the hanyou, who had fallen in love with a priestess who had sealed him to a tree for fifty years, though it had really been Naraku in disguise to get the lovers to hate each other. For some reason Kagome seemed reluctant to talk about the priestess Kikyo, as Sarano would later find out was her name. According to Sango, Kagome was the reincarnation of this Kikyo person, and the girl had fallen in a well with the Shikon Jewel in her body. "So I assume you're the one who shattered it?"

Kagome had heated instantly with embarrassment and shame but nodded, and looked down at the ground as Inuyasha agreed with her. Her shame fell and with a simple word- sit- he fell to the ground with a loud crash and groaned in agony as the priestess had walked away. Sarano skirted the crater that the half demon had made and trotted to catch up with the girl as she understood the signal that they were leaving. "So how many jewel shards have you gathered? I'm guessing a good number, seeing as there are so many of you." A soft tail brushed her head, announcing the arrival of Shippo sitting on her shoulder. "No, actually we haven't. Mostly because Inuyasha isn't any good at fighting."

The little fox demons statement earned him a hard whack on his head that unbalanced him from Sarano's shoulder, making him fall face first in the dirt where Inuyasha continued to thump him on the head. "Inuyasha!" Kagome screeched as she ran over to him. "Sit boy!" Again, the half demon kissed the ground and Shippo jumped to his feet, laughing at him. Sarano sighed, wondering why she had ever decided to join these people but she knew, with some stubborn hesitance, that it would be easier to track down Naraku with extra companions on her side. A sudden breeze ruffled the cat demons hair and she parted her jaws to bring in the scents of the forest, noticing that Inuyasha and the others seemed totally oblivious to the approaching demon that harbored a jewel shard.

"Demon," she murmured and in an instant, Inuyasha was at her side. "Where? Where'd he go?" Sarano flicked her ear lazily in the direction of the setting sun and no sooner than she had, a large demon emerged from the forest, his feet making the ground tremble under his immensity. "I can handle it, if you aren't willing to." Inuyasha's doubt surged up again, making Sarano curl her lip back in annoyance.

"If you really want to."

He jumped away and drew his sword before the demoness could reply but she sprang after him nonetheless, unsheathing her own sword as she landed neatly on the large demon. Swords began to hack wildly at the demon and fresh blood was spilled all over the once clean grass below them; Inuyasha sloppy in his swordsmanship as he merely swung his large sword around. Sarano made no comment on this and swiped elegantly at the demon, cutting away his jewel shard in his neck that she had sensed. She lunged for it, letting the rough little jewel fall in her hand as she left Inuyasha to take care of the demon. She casually walked back to the others and extended her hand to Kagome, the girl unsure of why the cat demon was openly handing over the shard. "Um…thanks." Inuyasha rejoined the group and stared at Sarano, his feelings unreadable as he sheathed his sword and began to strode away, assuming the others would automatically follow.

* * *

They traveled into the night and stopped when the moon hung dimly in the night sky straight above them. "Sarano," Kagome asked as she tended to the fire and everyone took a comfortable seat around it. "How did you attain your priestess powers? Is it in your family?" Sarano shook her head, and Kagome's surprise spoke volumes to the cat demon. "No, when I was young, my family had me train as a priestess for six years. I can sense the jewel shards but just faintly, it isn't as powerful as your sense, I'm sure." A prickle of uneasiness flared between the demon slayer and the girl, sharing glances until they finally rested their gaze on the cat demon. "Why didn't you stay with it? Surely you'd be more… equipped to be a priestess than a warrior?" The question had boiled her blood, and she bared her fangs in an angry, malicious snarl. "I'm not useless, Kagome." The cat demon threw over her shoulder as she jumped to her feet and stalked into the forest.

"Being blind is no hindrance to me."


End file.
